Stalled plan would house refugees in century-old Naglee Park cottage

Back in 1905, the year before San Francisco's terrible earthquake, an electrician named Fred Chapman commissioned a solid two-story cottage to be built at 68 S. 11th St. in San Jose, on the edge of the well-to-do Naglee Park neighborhood.

Originally constructed for a family of three, the home suffered indignities over the years. It was split up as a rooming house. Now, with chain link fence surrounding it, the cottage faces a fresh crisis. At its heart is a group of people who want to do good.

The house was purchased last year by the Presbytery of San Jose, the organization of local Presbyterian churches, which hoped to turn it into a center for refugees. The neighbors, who include the 1929 San Jose Woman's Club across the street, came to think the idea wasn't well conceived. Now the project is stalled.

A plan to establish a temporary home for refugees in this house at 68 S. 11th St. in San Jose has caused an uproar in the Naglee Park neighborhood.
(Scott Herhold / Bay Area News Group)

In any neighborhood battle like this, there are two sides. The neighbors are more than happy to explain theirs. They've done their research. The Presbytery official in charge of the project, however, declined to talk to me. That tells me the church knows it has a mess on its hands.

So let me peel back the onion as best I can. Three years ago, Immanuel Presbyterian Church in west San Jose closed its doors after 46 years, leaving $216,000 for the purchase of a house that would serve as a refugee center.

A real need

Nobody doubts this is a real need. In a note explaining the purpose of the house, the Presbyterians said that 60,000 to 80,000 refugees on average settle annually in the United States. That number is only likely to increase with the turmoil in Syria and Ukraine.

"The home will provide not only a welcoming, safe place for residents to adjust to their new lives here but also opportunities for congregations and individuals to practice Christian hospitality," a note from the Presbytery said. (See www.sanjosepby.org.)

The neighbors say Presbytery officials told them the cottage would house between 10 and 14 residents with a couple of resident managers. Initially, the Presbyterians said it would be modeled after a center that Catholic Charities ran on Inverness Way in Sunnyvale.

Alas, the Sunnyvale house received more than its share of complaints. Over a three-year period, the police responded more than 20 times for calls to the house. The house closed last December, leaving the Presbyterians in San Jose to forge their own model.

No permits

The Presbyterians did apply for a conditional use permit to remodel the old Chapman house. But the city says a contractor started work on the home without permits. The city issued a stop-work order on Feb. 10. Now several of the windows are covered with plywood.

The central critique from Naglee Park neighbors has been that the Presbyterians are trying to house too many people in the cottage -- and that the neighborhood already has two detox centers and a drug rehab center within 500 feet.

They've also raised questions about how the home will be managed and how the refugees will be screened.

"Housing refugees, in theory, is not an unreasonable use," said April Halberstadt, a Naglee Park resident. "But it doesn't seem to be thought out. It doesn't seem to be working with this particular group.''

Not a good time

Ordinarily, I'd be able to get the other side's response. But when I reached the project manager for Immanuel House, Rev. Edd Breeden, he responded in a short email:

"I do not believe now is a good time. I can tell you we plan to move ahead in the near future and would be happy to talk with you at that time. Contact me in April."

At some point, the Presbytery of San Jose may indeed get its act together. For now, the once-proud Chapman house looks like an old horse with blinkers, standing in the shade while waiting for a harness. That's too bad. Naglee Park deserves better.